Euronews

Saddam Hussein has attended court in Baghdad in spite of an earlier threat to withdraw his cooperation. In a letter to the Chief Judge, he complained of being repeatedly silenced. He was furious at being denied an opportunity to defend himself against allegations he had swindled 10n billion dollars of state funds. The former Iraqi leader is on trial with six others for genocide.

The charge centres on the Anfal, which means “spoils of war”, campaign in which Iraqi military forces attacked Iraq’s Kurdish population in the 1980’s. Prosecutors claim that 180,000 Kurds died in poison gas attacks and mass executions. The defence says it was a legitimate military operation against rebels siding with Iran.